On May 1 I could not sleep well. I had a dream that I lost the rest
of my mucus plug and somehow knew that I would have her that day. So
I woke up and lost the rest of my mucus plug and was feeling
crampy. I went to work anyway. I left work at around 2/3ish
because I was just getting more and more crampy. I still really did
not think that it was labor though. I really thought that I would go
past my due date. I even took a bunch of paperwork with me to do
since I figured I would be back the next day.
When I left work, I was really restless so my mom and I went out for
Mexican food. So yummy and spicy. Then she dropped me off at home.
I sat on my bouncy ball and did computer/paperwork. I called Greg to
let him know that I was maybe having contractions but he did not
need to come home early.
I was on pg.org and doing work until about 6pm. I actually
remembering getting a call from work and thinking that I should not
answer it because I was not sure if I was going to have more
contrax, but then I did. And since I was able to talk and have a
conversation, I figured that I did not need to worry and I still had
tons of time.
I started to time them and realized that they were getting close
together, but they were not at all what I expected. I really thought
it would be horribly painful if they were closer together than 5
minutes. So I turned off the contraction timer and waited for Greg
to get home.
When he got home, I told him that I thought I was in labor, his
response was- no, I don't think you are, you are able to talk
through the contrax and seem fine.
He went to go and shower and I decided to start timing them again.
Greg came downstairs and looked at the monitor- "I think you are in
labor". This time I was the one who figured that it must be wrong,
maybe I was counting them wrong or something. I just did not feel
like it could be labor. We figured that we would hang out for a
couple more hours since we wanted to stay home as long as possible.
I took a shower since in the past that had slowed or stopped
contractions. While it felt nice, it did not stop or slow anything.
That was my first clue that maybe this was real. And they were
starting to get closer together and I was able to feel them
starting, peaking and then stopping. I remember thinking that was so
cool to be able to feel that.
We started to get ready to go around 8 or 9ish. But the pants I
wanted to wear were dirty so Greg started laundry, still thinking
that we had so much time. I gave Greg the list and he started to
pack the bag. It had gotten so that I needed to be sitting on the
ball or swaying with Greg during the contrax for them to be
manageable. I had tried to relax myself using the Hypnobabies at this
point, but I think I was already too far. I could not completely
relax myself (although it definitely helped me to stay calm). I
continued to walk around listening to the Hypnobabies CD as I was
doing stuff.
We continued to pack and Greg started to make brownies to bring to
the hospital staff. The contrax were starting to get much stronger
at this point. I know that Greg was a little worried about it, since
they were also coming much closer together as well. And my back was
starting to hurt really badly.
I called the doc around 10ish to see if I should come in. He told me
to, so we started to pack up more stuff and keep getting ready. We
finally got out the door at about 11pm.
The hospital was about 1/2 hour away. That was so hard to have to
sit in the seat and not be moving during the contrax.
We got to the hospital and we must have been quite a site- I was
carrying my bouncy ball and Greg had a suitcase. Every few feet, I
would need to stop to sit on the bouncy ball to make it through a
contraction. And then the batteries in my CD player died. And we
could not find the extra ones that we were sure were in the
suitcase. So we called my parents, told them we were at the hospital
and while not sure that we were going to be admitted, knew that we
needed more batteries. So they were on their way (we were hoping to
be able to call them much later).
We got up to L & D, they saw that I had the bouncy ball and asked if
I was going to have a natural delivery, I told them I was. They put
me in a room and the doc came to ask if he could check to see where
I was. I had not been checked for weeks, so I really had no idea and
I figured, sure why not.
I was a fingertip dilated, almost totally effaced and she was still
at a -3 station. Ok, that was so upsetting to hear. He was not sure
if he was going to keep me, but he wanted to check baby. It took
forever to get us hooked up to the monitor (almost an hour) where I
had to lay there. I really think that was a big part of the problem,
Sara hated the monitors, so when they put it on her, she would kick
it off. They finally got it on her, and the doc decided we should
stay since my contrax were coming about 2 minutes apart and nice and
strong. He told me that he knew that I wanted natural, but if I
needed something I could ask. I told him I was fine. He said he
would be back in a couple of hours to see how things were going.
My parents had arrived during all this, so I listened to my
Hypnobabies again. My back pain was starting to get much worse, so I
was having Greg push on my back, I was a little concerned since the
pressure was so bad that I could not even feel him pushing. And Sara
kept kicking off the monitor, so I could not move as much as I
wanted to.
At this point in time, my sense of time gets a bit fuzzy so I will
do the best that I can.
I know that the doc came back a few hours later and I was dilated
to about 1 and she had not moved, still -3. He said he would be back
in a couple more hours. At some point, I remember throwing up from
the pain. The crazy thing was that I was still listening to the
Hypnobabies, and in the minute or 2 between contrax, I was able to
fall asleep. It was really amazing.
I know that the doc came back a few hours later and I was still at 1
or 2cm, so he offered to break my water to get things moving. Greg
and I talked and decided to let him do it, knowing that it meant we
would need to have her within 24 hours. He broke my water and at
first there was a little trickle...then when I stood up there was
this big gush! I had no idea how much fluid was in there! They also
put an internal monitor since Sara was so squirmy and that was
actually better since I could move around more since she was able to
stay on the monitor for 20 minutes at a time.
At around 7 am, the doc came back to check for the last time before
switching shifts. He checked and I was at 2-3cm and she was still
at -3 station. It was a little discouraging that I was dilating so
long and concerning that she was not moving down at all.
At this point in time, the pain in my back was so horrible, that I
don't know how to describe it. I honestly was afraid that I would
pass out from the pain. I decided that I needed something to help. I
got some nubain which helped a little, at least I was not totally
miserable but it was still pretty bad. It wore off after a couple of
hours.
The other doc came to see me and to check, I think around 9 or 10. I
was still at 3cm and she was still -3. At this point in time, the
doc was worried, since she had seemed a little big on the u/s and
she just was not moving down at all. She asked if I wanted some
pitocin to try and get things moving. At this point in time, I was
ready for something to start, my contrax were still showing really
strong and I was totally exhausted. I was thinking that I would get
some pitocin, and get an epidural and then by the time I was ready
to push, the epi would have worn off. I knew that I needed some
sleep. So I got the pitocin and the epi and was able to sleep for a
few hours. The doc came back around 12:30pm to check me. The pitocin
did not do a thing. They could not give me more since I was having
contrax every minute, they were pretty much on top of each other and
they were really really strong. And Sara was still at a -3 station.
And her heartrate was not as high as it had been. The doc told me
that I could continue to labor as long as her heartrate was okay but
she was getting a little worried. She offered to let me keep trying
for a couple more hours or I could get a c-section now. I decided to
get one then since I did not want to have an emergency c-sect if
something went wrong.
So we got all prepped and they brought us back to the OR. Now I
think this might be the most important place that the Hypnobabies
came in for me. The only other time I had been in an OR was for my D
& C last June and it was in the same hospital. The fact that I was
now going in for a c-sect absolutely terrified me once we got to the
OR. I was able to calm and relax myself using the Hypnobabies
techniques and I am convinced that is how I did not have a panic
attack and why I was able to stay awake for it.
When the doc did the c-sect, she said that baby was facing the wrong
way and that is why she was not moving down. And of course why my
back hurt so much!
Sara screamed as soon as she came out, and Greg got to hold her
really quickly. The doc sewed me up and we went back to the L & D
room and I got to nurse her which was so neat!
So it was not the birth I planned on, but I got my beautiful baby so
I am happy!
I will definitely be doing Hypnobabies for my next baby as well. I
think if I can start using it earlier in labor, it will work better
for me.
Oh- the other thing is that even though I was in pain, my mom and
the nurses said that Greg and I were both so loving and kind to each
other, so I think that was the Hypnobabies as well. I guess people
sometimes go a little crazy when they are in labor.
Kudos to you for reading this far! And thanks!
Sara Rose
Born May 2 @ 1:50pm
8 pounds 11 ounces 21 inches long
